Cricket legends compare Kohli to Miandad, McEnroe

New Delhi: Cricketing legends Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram and Sourav Ganguly have heaped praise on Virat Kohli with one comparing India's batting mainstay to tennis great John McEnroe and another saying that his value in the team is more than his teammates.

"He is a special player. He holds the team together. You have top guys like Rohit (Sharma), Suresh (Raina), Yuvraj (Singh) but the way Virat has played over the last six seen years, he is at another level," said former India captain Ganguly.

"He has scored all around the world and is a match winner. Look at the Asia Cup match against Pakistan. He took the team home after overcoming a great Mohammad Amir spell. Even though the target was a small one,” he added.

Part of the high-profile line-up at the Conclave were Kapil and Akram. Both greats love Kohli's flamboyance on the field, which they feel brings out the best in him. Inzamam Ul Haq was also a part of the conversation.

"He loves to take panga (dare others) and that way he ends up playing even better. If Inzy (sitting next to Wasim) remembers, in 1999 I told the boys that if the crowd is against you, booing you, that means you are doing a good job. Virat also thinks like that. It is a great way of thinking," said Akram. Kapil said Kohli reminds him of McEnroe and Javed Miandad.

"Virat reminds me of McEnroe. He is always up to some mischief. There are people who take panga and take their game to the next level. He is one of those. McEnroe always loved to fight with the umpires. Another example is Javed. He always loved taking panga," said Kapil before Akram jumped in to say "wo (Miandad) abhee bhee pange lete hain (He still likes to mess with people)," said former Indian all-rounder.